Combined staple and strap



May 28, 1935. c. c. wlckwme' 2,003,062

COMBINED STAPLE AND STRAP Filed April '5, 1954 Gttornegs Patented May 28 UNITED STATES. PATENT COMBINED STAPLE AND s'rnAr' Oharles C. Wickwire, Cortland, N. Y., assignor to Wickwire Brothers, Cortland, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 5, 1934, Serial No. 719,228

1 Claim. (01. 85-49) This invention relates to staples, and particucured thereto at B is a fiat metal strap or clip 1, ilarly to a combined staple and strap adapted to having a longitudinal extent substantially in exhold insulated cables of the type having a soft and cess' of the width'o'f the body. This strap or clip easily broken covering of insulation. l is electrically welded to the body 4, since elec- In the prior art, various types of staples have tric welding can be carried out simply, cheaply, 6 been used for the purpose of fastening and an-. and expeditiously, and forms thest'aple and clip choring cable, and for holding insulated wire. into asingle integral structure. The bottom face The fastening of armored cable offers no particof the clip is smooth, flat and broad and can be .ular problem, since the armor is capable of withdriven into firm engagement with the cable instanding considerable compressive strength withsulation to lock the cable in position without any 10 out possibility of injuring the insulation. Where possibility of injuring the insulation, and without insulated staples, that is, metal staples having any assembly operation prior touse; i straps or clips of insulation, are used for holding It will be understood that the staple 3 is haninsulated wiring having a soft covering, the strap dled in the usual manner, the legs being placed a or clip acts as a buifer and as a protective means, astride the cable to-be anchored. The points are so that the insulation on the wire is not injured driven into the joist or other support where the if the staple is driven in too deep. cable is to be mounted untilthe strap or clip I Where metal staples are used for securing large comes into tight engagement with the insulation cables without armor covering, a different probof the cable and sufliciently to anchor the cable lem arises. Not only is the insulation soft and fir mly in position. The staple can be placed in readily injured by too much compression, but the position without any previous assembly operation, fire underwriters requirements make it necessary since it comprises a single, one-piece structure to to provide means for guarding against such inbe handled, and all possibility of injuring the cable jury. These requirements necessitate the use of is positively avoided, because the fiat clip l'has] a staple having a substantially fiat top and a strap no sharp projecting edges which can bite into the or clip which is likewise broad, flat, and smooth, insulation. This affords a distinct advantage so that, when the staple is driven into a joist or over devices of the prior art wherein means-we're other support sufficiently to clamp the cable, there provided for limiting the depth to which the staple will be no rupturingof the insulation; can be driven. [In those cases it was necessary to For the most part, this latter structure has been of a two-piece construction, wherein a flat metal clip or strap is perforated at two points to receive the legs of the staple. Such an arrangement is clumsy and impractical because it requires assembly of the two parts and this consumes much time and is awkward when installations are to be made in constricted locations and in locations difficult of access. 7,

Accordingly, the main object of this invention is to produce a one-piece staple havinga flat wide clip or strap integrally secured to the staple and capable of holding a soft covered cable in position without rupturing the insulation.

The invention will be best understood when the following specification is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:-'

Fig. l is a perspective view of one form of staple embodying this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification.

Referring to Fig. l, the reference character 3 designates a one-piece metal staple composed preferably of steel wire and having a body or head 4 and two sharpened legs 5 depending substantially at right angles to the body. Mounted between the legs 5 underneath the body 4 and seaccordance with the dimensions of cable to be ane I chored, and it was difficult to get the proper frictional contact between the staple and the cable. j The device of this invention avoids-in a simple manner all the difficulties of theprior art and pro- ,35 vides asimple, integral construction which not only can be made cheaply, but it meets the underwriters requirements in every particular.

Under some conditions, it may be'desired to extend the strap or clip laterally to formllanges de- 0 pending inside the legs 5. Such a structure is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, wherein the parts are designated by the same reference characters as thosejust indicated, except that the strap is here designated 8 and has, in addition to the substantially flat central portion underneath the body 4, depending curved portions or flanges 9 which mayembrace the sides of the cable to further support it and guide it, and to provide an a v additional means for preventing possiblerupture of the cable insulation when the staple is driven into position, a

Although various types of staples have been suggested for this use in the prior art, no one has provided a simple construction of staple and clip have the limiting means properly positioned in 30' V 2 wherein the two parts are electrically welded together in fixed and permanentrelation so as'to avoid the inconvenience of assembling the parts out departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What'is claimed is: V

A unitarystaple for clamping cables having soft covering of insulation, comprising a substantially straight metal body of steel Wire having two spaced legs depending substantially at right angles to said body; and a broad flat metal clip substantially bridging the space between said legs and projectingfmaterially beyond said body on both sides thereof longitudinally of the cable to be held and electrically welded to the under side of said body between'said legs and presenting a 7 area when said legs are driven into a supporting surface.

CHARLES C. WICKWIRE. 

